NEWS

Campus Police add Truck to Vehicle Fleet
Mandy Cross | For the Wichitan

The MSU Police Department will soon be adding a 2005 Dodge Dakota quad cab pickup truck to their vehicle fleet.
The university will pay about $14,000 for the truck, which is $7,000 cheaper than purchasing a new Ford Crown Victoria, the department’s current vehicle.
“It is important to look good as a police department, be unique and non-traditional in conducting business,” said Police Chief Michael Hagy. “We like to think of ourselves as kinder, gentler, and that we know our students,” he said.
In doing so, Hagy hopes to mark the vehicle with a new insignia, something other than the campus seal. Hagy likes the idea of incorporating an Indian, the campus mascot.
The new truck will not have a cage between the front and back seats on the inside to separate the officers from detainees. According to Hagy, the number of times a cage would be necessary is minimal.
“Cages do not allow officers to adjust the driver’s seat. They also restrict the flow of air-conditioning and heat,” Hagy said. “If a suspect is properly searched and restrained there is no real danger.”
The truck will have an open bed and tool box in the back to haul equipment such as cones for roadblocks.
The department currently has two marked vehicles, a pair of and Ford Crown Victorias, one made in 1997 and onin 1998, in addition to one unmarked car.
The decision to buy a new vehicle was made by Hagy and approved by Howard Farrell, vice president of student affairs.
“The 1998 Crown Victoria had about 75,000 miles on it. The 1997 has about 60,000 miles on it,” Hagy said.
The newer vehicle has 15,000 more miles on it, Hagy said, because “the officers have one car they like to drive more than the other.”
Cars are also assigned to the shifts the officers work. Different shifts will have more driving miles, depending on the amount of activity on that shift.
Hagy said when a vehicle hits about 60,000 miles it is customary to start looking for a new one.
“The miles on the cars only reflect driving miles. The officers sit in the vehicles in the heat and cold with heater or air-conditioner on. Things like that are not factored into the actual mileage,” he said.
The department started looking for a new vehicle last year, but held off on the purchase due to budget cuts.
According to Hagy, law enforcement agencies statewide place a request for desired vehicles. Independent dealers submit bids on each vehicle. The bidder with the lowest price is awarded the contract.
“The Dodge we ordered was placed out of Austin. Austin calls the manufacturer in Detroit and they make it exactly like we ordered it,” Hagy said.
The order takes six weeks to fill unless that particular vehicle is pulled off the line for a quality inspection check.
The new truck will be on campus in about two weeks.
“The 1998 Crown Victoria with 75,000 miles will go to auction,” Hagy said.
The other police car will still be used on campus.
Depending on how this vehicle performs and next year’s budget, the department may get another new vehicle, he said.


Crimestoppers and KA haunted house a Big Hit
Abigail Carter | Managing Editor

“I’ll Kill You!” “The Angel of Death Has Come,” and “Welcome to Hell.” The words blaze in the inky darkness, burning into your soul. Screams and the sound of whirring saws greet you upon entering. Strange men in twisted rubber masks loom menacingly over passersby, their hooded forms loaked in shadows.
Crimestoppers and the Kappa Alpha Order are hosting their 3rd annual haunted house in the old Muehlbergers building at the corner of 7th and Indiana. The house features a ghostly graveyard, scary clown room, crazy surgeon, a guillotine, and a chainsaw, just to name a few, said Michael McLoughlin, president of the Kappa Alpha Order. Many of the ideas for the different rooms were just sort of “put together by everybody,” said McLoughlin.
Admission is $5 and proceeds will go to the KA’s national philanthropy, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, as well as to Crimestoppers, to assist in funding the investigation of unsolved crime.
Almost 200 people passed through the house Friday night, and more than 300 people visited on Saturday. One girl, in a hurry to escape a particularly scary guy with a hockey mask and chainsaw, ran straight out of her shoe.
Officer Melvin Joyner said another person ran straight into the wall while trying to evade the same guy.
A couple of years ago, some small children had to go home for a change of pants after going through the haunted house, said McLoughlin. They have since toned it down a bit. Last year, an older downtown resident saw someone being chased down the street by a man with a chainsaw and called the police. It was the fraternity’s usual Halloween production, of course, and they were told they could no longer chase customers down the street.
All of the 25 members of the fraternity were involved in creating the wonderful, horrible imagery. There are at least 15-20 members inside the house, in costume or working with the mechanics of it, during the hours of operation. The fraternity started building the scenery, sets, and walls on Oct. 1 and worked on them for hours each day until the house opened on Oct. 18.
The haunted house will stay through Oct. 31. Hours of operation are 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. during the week, and 6 p.m. to midnight or 1 a.m. on weekends.
There are hamburgers, hot dogs, cookies, and soda on sale for those who may get hungry while waiting in line. The food is inexpensive, with prices ranging from fifty cents to $2.
On 6th Street downtown, the Central Boys and Girls Club put on an annual haunted house, too. Some MSU fraternities assist yearly in their spooky production, with members dressing up as some of the house’s creepy and scary attractions.
Both the Omega Delta Phi and the Phi Sigma fraternities help to make the haunted house a success, said Ronnie London, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club.
“We go in there and play characters,” said Jose Hernandez, president of the Omega Delta Phi.
Their house will re-open Thursday, Oct. 28 and run through the 30th. Hours are 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 7:30 p.m. to midnight on Saturday. Admission is $5 at the door or $3 if you purchase your ticket at the Boys and Girls Club before 5 p.m. Friday.